Convertible household and devotional chair



i M. E. bucKLEY. CONVERTIBLE HOUSEHOLD AND DEVOTIOIIAL CHAIR.

vv `APPLICATION FILED AUGJI. ISIS.

l 1 93,868. Patented Aug. 8, 1916. 7:0' .2. 1% .2;

III,

STATES PATENT FFQE MARY BUCKLEY., 0E LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

CONVERTIBLE HOUSEHOLD AND DEVOIIONAL CHAIR.

To all 'whom it may concern:

Be it known lthat 1, MARY E. BUCKLEY, a citizen of the United States,residing at Los Angeles, in the .county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented a new and useful Improvement in ConvertibleHousehold and Devotional Chairs, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates tocombination household and devotional chairs whichmay readily be converted from one-use to the other and having a pivotedhead rest which may be converted into an arm rest, .a pivoted seat whichmay be converted into a substantially vertical back, and a knee rest andfoot rest which may be used for either purpose or which may restnormally beneath the seat without affecting the appearance of the chair.

Referring to the drawings in whichvsimilar characters of referenceindicate the same parts throughout the several views, Figure 1 is a planview of the chair with the seat, head rest and knee rest in normalposition; Fig. 2 is a partial front elevation of the same; Fig. 2a is apartial rear elevation of the same; Fig. 3 is a transverse sectionalelevation of Fig. 1; and Fig.l 4 is a similar sectional elevation withthe chair converted for devotional purposes.

The chair has the usual lines and design of the very commonly usedmissionfurniture with the short front posts 1- andthe rear inclinedposts 2 of massive appearance and preferably of square cross section.The front posts 1 have suitable knobs 3 attached to the bottoms andtherear posts 2 are provided with ordinary casters 4 so that' the chair maybe readily moved about in the room by slightly tilting it backward, andthe knobs practically insure against movement of the chair when it is atrest or When it Ais yused for devotional purposes.

Transverse rails 5l on the sides of the chair are suitably mortised intothe front and reary posts at opposite ends and the upper transverserails 6 on the sides are .similarly mortised into the posts.Longitudinal rails 7 at the front and rear `of the chair which occupypreferably the same horizontal plane as the rails 5 and a rear upperrail K Specication of Letters lLl-I'atent.

Application filed August 31, 1915.

Patented Aug. 8, 1916.

Serial No. 49,132.

8 are also mortised into the posts land 2, thus forming a rigid frame.

A pair of rails 9 and 10 are secured to the rear posts 2 andextendentirely across the back ofthe chai-r with a plurality of verticalslats 11 suitably secured thereto which forms a back for the chair andto which a cushion (not shown) of leather or other material may besecured by means of straps, or otherwise. Arms 12'connect and aresecured to the posts 1 and 2 at each side and a plurality of shortlvertical slats 13 which are secured at opposite .ends to the arms 12and the transverse rails 6 and form sides for the seatbed.

The combined head and arm rest 14 which has a suitable cushion 15attached to the' outer side, is pivoted to the upper rear rail 9 bymeans of a pair of ordinary hinges 16, the hinges being placed at pointsnear the upper edge of the rest so that when it is used as a head rest,as shown in Fig. 3, it will rest normally against the back .of the chairwith the cushion on the front. Rectangular grooves 17 are formed in therear and lower side of the rest 14 for purposes hereinafter described,or, if desirable, several ribs may be. secured to the back of the restfor the same purpose. I

rFhe foot and knee rest 1S has .a front member 19, .the normallyhorizontal member 2O forming the rest which isprovided with a cushion 21to-match that on the head and arm rest 14, and end-braces 22 are rigidlysecured toboth the members 19 and 20. The member `19 is pivoted at thebottom to the front rail 7 by means of the strap hinges 23 and in such amanner that the rest may be moved from the position shown in Fig. 3 tothat shown in Fig. 4 by raising the seat, as hereinafter described.

The seat comprises a rigid and stationary member 24 which entends theentire width ofthe chair and is secured to the upper rails G and also tothe rear rail 8, land la pivoted seat 25 which is provided with acushion 26 and is hinged to the stationary member 24 .by means of thehinges 27. The seat 25 is so arranged that it may be raised into theposition shown in Fig. 4 with the front edge thereof seated in one ofthe grooves 17 of the arm and head rest 14, which arrangement permitsthe rest 14 and the seat 25 to be sustained in their altered position aslong as may be desired.

A pair of flatwise rails 28 are secured at opposite ends to the upperrails 6 on the sides and the rear of these rails forms a support for thestationary member 24 and the rear side of the seat 25 while the frontrail forms a support for the front portion of the seat 25 and has anarrow strip 29 secured to its bottom against which the edge of themember 20 of the foot and knee rest engages when it is in normalposition, as shown in Fig. 3. A false bottom 30 is pivoted to the frontedge of the front rail 2S by means of hinges 31 and is adapted to bemoved into the position shown in Fig. 4 when the chair is used fordevotional purposes and in such case serves as a shelf upon which booksmay be placed and opened, an opening being thus left at the front ofthochair for the greater convenience of the user.

My chair when used for ordinary pur'- poses is of the form shown inFigs. l and 3 and if it is desirable when the chair is used by invalids,or when greater comfort of the occupant is necessary, the combinationfoot and knee rest may be lowered into the position shown in Fig. 4 byraising the hinged seat 25 and after the rest has been lowered, the seatmay be restored to normal position, thus providing a foot rest.

When the chair is used for devotional purposes, the seat and head andarm rest are raised into the position shown in Fig. 4 and the knee restis lowered as shown and previously described.

The combined foot and knee rest is necessarily of sufficient strength toinsure against breakage and the several elements forming the rest arepreferably mortised and otherwise suitably secured together, for whenused as a knee rest, the user kneels upon the rest with the bodyinclined slightly forward and extending into the opening normallyoccupied by the seat and false bottom, and the arms are placed upon thesubstantially horizontal arm rest 14 on the back and at the top of theframe. A prayer book is placed and opened on the adjustable false bottomwhich in this case forms a shelf. The design of the chair is such thatthe greatest comfort may be had by the occupant or user and the heightof the back is probably somewhat less than that of an ordinary chair forthe reason that the difference in height between the arm and knee restis limited for obvious reasons.

It is apparent that the arm and head rest may be made adjustablevertically on the back of the chair, if desirable, in order toaccommodate the chair to use by persons of different size, and also morecomfort may be had when the article is used for ordinary seatingpurposes if the head rest were moved upwardly for a slight distance andmoved downwardly again when used as an arm rest.

Having thus described my invention, what 1 lclaim as new and desireLetters Patentlfor, 1s: 4

l. An article of furniture capable of conversion for use as a chair andfor devotional purposes comprising an adjustable head and arm rest, apivoted seat, a pivoted shelf normally resting beneath the seat, and anadjustable foot and knee rest, and means whereby all of said elementsmay be sustained in position for either of said uses.

2. An article of furniture capable of conversion for use as a chair andfor devotional purposes comprising an adjustable head and arm rest, anadjustable seat, an adjustable foot and knee rest, and a pivoted shelfbeneath the seat, and means whereby all of said elements may besustained in position for either of said uses.

3. A portable chair for household use having adjustable head and footrest members and an adjustable seat, a false-pivoted bottom beneath theseat, and means for converting said chair for devotional use, said headand foot rest members being converted into arm and knee rest members,respectively, said seat forming a back, and said bottom forming a shelffor books.

4. A portable chair for household and devotional use having adjustablehead and foot rest elements, an adjustable seat and back and anadjustable false bottom beneath the seat normally forming a chair, andmeans for adjusting said elements for devotional purposes.

5. A combined and convertible household and devotional chair comprisinga. head rest element capable of conversion into an arm rest, a seatcapable of conversion into a back, a false bottom capable of conversioninto a book shelf, and a foot rest capable vof conversion into a kneerest, all of said elements being normally capable of use for the rstmentioned purpose and convertible for the last mentioned purpose andself sustaining in either of said positions.

6. A combined household and devotional chair comprising a convertiblehead and arm rest element, a seat and back element, a bottom and bookshelf element and a foot and knee rest element capable of being selfsustained in position when so converted, and a rigid frame for mountingall of said elements in the proper relation without alteration.

7 A combined household and devotional chair comprising a rigid portableframe, a convertible head and arm rest attached to the back of theframe, a convertible seat and false back attached to the bed of theframe Signed at Los Angeles, in the county of and capable of beingsustained in its con- Los Angeles and State of California, this vertedposition by said head and arm rest, 21st day of August, 1915.

a pivoted bottom member beneath the bed MARY E. BUCKLEY. e of the :trameCapable of conversion into a 1Witnesses:

shelf for books, and a convertible foot and J. D. HASKIN,

knee restattached to the front of the frame. GEO. E. MARLATT.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for xve cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C.

